In a message dated 8/15/2003 3:30:37 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
> Date:    Fri, 15 Aug 2003 06:15:15 EDT
> From:    "Valerie W. McClain" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Griping about gripe water
>
> One of the ingredients of gripe water seems to be sodium
> bicarbonate...baking
> soda.  Before we had this magic mixture, families years ago would make their
> own gripe water...of course now we would all rather pay $3 an ounce for this
> elixir.  If you'all look on a box of baking soda it states it relieves
> heartburn, indigestion, etc.  But the handy thing is you can also bake with
> it.  It
> costs less than a $1.00 a pound and you can buy it at the grocery store.
> Although there are cautions regarding its use listed on the package.
>
> I looked at the Baby's Bliss website.  And I came away feeling very troubled
> about the direction we seem to be going as a profession.  Here is a product
> stating it is recommended by pediatricians and lactation consultants (which
> obviously from the posts on lactnet many LC's do recommend this product).  I
> look
> at the label with the little baby on it--how cute just like the Gerber baby.
> I am stunned by how easy it is to market this product through lactation
> consultants.  Yet, we would criticize the medical profession for letting the
> infant
> formula industry do virtually the same thing.
>
> This product states that this product can be used with newborns.  The health
> benefits of exclusive breastfeeding over mixed breastfeeding are known quite
> well.  The use of this product in the newborn period seems containdicted if
> we
> want to preserve exclusivity.  (One teaspoon given to a newborn whose
> stomach
> is the size of a walnut is quite alot)  I don't think we would encourage a
> mother to mix baking soda and water to give to her baby.  Yet somehow this
> product because it is labeled and marketed as an over the counter remedy
> confers a
> high level of safety?  What studies were done on this product?
>
> Baby's Bliss states sugar free--I guess fructose isn't a sugar?  So is this
> remedy a food? a supplement? a drug?  Technically, I would think it is a
> food
> because it is made from items we call foods.  Then the WHO Code should apply
> to
> this product.
> Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC
>

I agree entirely with Valerie's email.
Nancy

Nancy E. Wight MD, FAAP, IBCLC
Neonatologist, Children's Hospital, and Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women
Medical Director, Lactation Services, Sharp HealthCare
San Diego, CA, USA
Email: [log in to unmask]

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